Review: Death of a Salesman

After a sell out run at the Young Vic, this top notch production of Death of a Salesman received a well deserved transfer to the West End. You have probably already seen the Arthur Miller play – one of the juggernauts of modern theatre – but never quite like this. Maybe it takes  women like directors Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell to think of the one element, that has not been introduced in this story and to change the view of it forever – race.

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Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

 

Theatre Review by Bee.

The defiant swagger of the main character, the downward spiral of the story, the hopelessness in the father and his sons, that may have felt a bit contrived and over the top on other occasions, rings undeniably true here. Wendell Pierce and Sharon D. Clarke embody Willy and Linda with so much heart and, love, that you can’t help but to feel for them. The production makes especially good use of Mrs. Clarkes stellar musical talents to bring the whole company together in a gut wrenching opening song and her lament of everything that is lost later on. The rest of the cast is not without faults, but the overall experience is that of an outstanding theatre experience. 

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Curtain Call: Cast includes Wendell Pierce, Sharon D. Clarke, Ian Bonar, Trevor Cooper, Sope Dirisu, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, Natey Jones, Joseph Mydell, Nenda Neurer, Emmanuel Ogunjinmi, Matthew Seadon-Young, Carole Stennett, Femi Temowo

We saw the first performance returning to the Piccadilly Theatre after the ceiling came down and were treated to an emotional speech of Wendell Pierce afterwards – a class act! 

https://www.youngvic.org/whats-on/death-of-a-salesman-west-end